Digital certificates provide two factors to build trust online: the strength of the encryption and the visual assurance of authentication. Stronger encryption enhances protection because it’s harder to break. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends that site owners upgrade to 2048-bit digital certificates (2007 NIST standards). “Comodo’s 2048-bit digital certificates are now the most trusted on the market,” said Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO of Comodo. “Comodo’s 2048-bit root is now more ubiquitous, even than Verisign’s. And, Comodo’s 2048-bit certificates operate with major browsers, even when our competition’s do not.”
For a 2048-bit key length to operate seamlessly within an Internet browser, the Certificate Authority must include the ‘root key’ within the browser. Certificate Authorities provide Internet browsers with their root keys. If a root key is not available, the browser sends a warning message to the user. The warning message makes it appear that either the user, or whoever he or she is communicating with, has done something wrong.
“Comodo anticipated the need for longer root keys at the beginning of the millennium,” said Abdulhayoglu. “We incorporated the 2048-bit root key into browsers when very few other Certificate Authorities were doing so. The advantage now, is that even Internet users with very old browsers can use Comodo 2048-bit certificates with no error messages. We’re proud of that ubiquity.”
E-commerce merchants who use the Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificate must employ 2048-bit cryptography by the end of 2010, as mandated by the CA/B Forum. Many merchants already use the stronger encryption. A recent example of erosion of trust occurred when Firefox 3.5 failed to recognize EV SSL certificates from many of Comodo’s competitors. Instead of seeing the green address bar warranted by the EV status, Firefox displayed a blue bar, connoting ordinary encryption.
Comodo is said to isseu more high-assurance digital certificates than any other brand, offering and supporting a full complement of 2048-bit certificates, including outdated browser versions. Such near-ubiquity enables more Internet users to enjoy the security advantages of 2048-bit key lengths. When ordering or re-ordering digital certificates through Comodo or a Comodo reseller, customers may request 2048-bit key lengths in their certificate signing requests. (Source: Comodo CA, Ltd./GST)